WWE To Change Samoa Joe’s Name?, Update On His NXT Status

Although he has signed a new full-time deal with WWE, Samoa Joe is still scheduled to team with AJ Styles to take on Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels at the Ring Of Honor television taping in New York City.

According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, WWE has been pushing very hard for that match to not be taped for television, which was the original plan before Joe signed his new WWE deal. As of right now, the belief is that the match will not be taped for the ROH television show.

It’s said that ROH wanted Joe for more dates, but their new national cable television deal with Destination America is one of the factors that led to WWE offering Joe a full-time deal, which will likely prevent Joe from doing so.

Joe is no longer accepting independent dates past August 31st, as he is scheduled to begin working in NXT full-time in September. Until then, Joe will be working the big NXT live events and any other WWE Network specials.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is also reporting that a name change for Samoa Joe and a main roster spot are reportedly still up in the air.

Another key factor in WWE bringing Samoa Joe in full-time to work in NXT is because of the perceived lack of depth of high-profile stars in the promotion. With Kevin Owens moving up to the main roster, and other top stars such as Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami on the sidelines, WWE felt the need to bring in another high-profile name to the NXT brand.